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Southeast Georgia Health System Hospitals Generate More Than $616 Million for Local and State Economy

April 17, 2018

April 17, 2018 ¬ In 2016, Southeast Georgia Health System hospitals
in Glynn and Camden counties generated more than $616,556,000 in revenue
for the local and state economy, according to a recent report by the Georgia
Hospital Association, the state’s largest hospital trade association.
During the same time period, Southeast Georgia Health System hospitals
provided approximately $24,243,000 in uncompensated care while sustaining
more than 1,575 full-time jobs (this number does not include team members
at the Health System’s two Senior Care Centers or almost 50 physician
practices).

Southeast Georgia Health System hospitals also had direct expenditures
of more than $267,986,000 in 2016. The total economic impact of those
expenditures was more than $616,556,000 when combined with an economic
multiplier developed by the United States Department of Commerce’s
Bureau of Economic Analysis. This output multiplier considers the “ripple”
effect of direct hospital expenditures on other sectors of the economy,
such as medical supplies, durable medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
Economic multipliers are used to model the resulting impact of a change
in one industry on the “circular flow” of spending within
an economy as a whole. The other affiliated entities accounted for additional
expenditures in excess of $100,000,000, which results in a further economic
impact of over $230,000,000.

“This report validates the enormous positive impact Southeast Georgia
Health System contributes to our local economy, and the importance of
our role in meeting the health care needs of the Glynn and Camden counties,
as well as our surrounding communities in Brantley, Charlton, McIntosh
and Wayne counties,” says
Michael D. Scherneck, president and chief executive officer of the Health System. “We
are very appreciative of our communities for their unwavering support
of our Health System. We will continue to work hard to ensure that the
residents of our communities have access to the best and safest health
care services available.”

Southeast Georgia Health System is a major component of the area’s
economic engine; however, the Health System’s leadership continues
to be concerned about economic challenges that make it increasingly difficult
to meet health care needs, including a fast-growing uninsured population
and inadequate payments from government insurance programs like Medicare
and Medicaid. In 2016, Georgia’s uninsured rate was 12 percent,
the third highest in the nation, and Medicaid pays Georgia hospitals only
about 87 percent of actual costs, meaning hospitals lose 13 cents on every
dollar spent treating a Medicaid recipient. Presently, almost half of
all hospitals in Georgia are operating with negative margins.

“We’re extremely concerned about the current operating environment
for our Health System hospitals,” says Scherneck. “We’ve
made a commitment to every citizen of our communities to be there for
them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, our ability to do so is
being compromised when so many of our patients are either uninsured or
severely underinsured.”

According to Scherneck, every community needs nearby access to a strong,
vibrant health care system that will not only meet the health care needs
of its residents, but also to attract other industries and businesses
to the area.

“Our local health care system is indispensable to our communities,”
Scherneck says. “It is not only the primary guardian of health in
our communities, but it is also a major economic engine in this area that
is responsible for approximately 2,500 jobs. It is our hope that our elected
officials will join us in our efforts to protect our health care system
and preserve access to health care for every resident of southeast Georgia.”